SLC 20

He immediately said, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“For asking to be friends when I’m boring.”

“You? You’re funny.”

Mok Seongha asked back in surprise.

“Me? Haha.”

It was the first time he’d ever heard that. Kim Jinkyung knew well enough that “funny” didn’t suit him. Maybe this was because he hadn’t gone out and met people much.

“Thank you for saying that.”

“No. You’re seriously funny.”

A smile played on Mok Seongha’s perfectly drawn lips.

“Do you remember freaking out and begging to be saved at the pond?”

“…..”

“That was hilarious. Why the hell would a snake be out there?”

Kim Jinkyung slowly lay back down. He recalled the disgrace he’d shown that day.

“…Good night.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. A fish got into my clothes, and I couldn’t see it, and everything felt wet…”

“No, I mean the flower. Normally you don’t touch other people’s things.”

At those words, blood rushed to Kim Jinkyung’s heart.

He remembered the way those eyes had looked at him without much thought. He didn’t know why his heart was racing over something so small.

Suddenly, a large hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Why?”

“Huh? What…”

“Your heart suddenly got loud. Did I say something scary again?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Kim Jinkyung dragged the sheet over and hurriedly covered his chest. Even knowing the man could hear his heartbeat, he felt like he had to do something.

“It’s beating even faster. Are you afraid I’ll ask you to pay for the flower you touched?”

“Oh, yes. And the carp ended up like that too. I’m sorry.”

Mok Seongha let go of his shoulder and said it’s fine as he pulled his hand back. The spot his hand had touched prickled as if it had been burned.

“Why did you try to break the flower that day?”

“…It was just pretty.”

“You like pretty things?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“I didn’t know. I thought you didn’t like things like that since your eyes are stuck to the ground.”

…Sangil, I’m sorry you get treated like this.

“If there’s a flower you like, take it. That is fine.”

“Can I ask one thing?”

Kim Jinkyung asked carefully.

“What is it?”

“Who made the garden?”

The garden was a feast of flowers. All kinds of flowering trees revealed themselves as the seasons competed, releasing full scents. Strong smells were no different from violence to Mok Seongha, or so he’d heard. Flowers were the same. That was why the garden surrounding the estate had never quite made sense to Kim Jinkyung.

“My mother.”

Mok Seongha answered shortly. It was the first time he’d mentioned his parents. Kim Jinkyung wondered if he’d asked something he shouldn’t have.

“She said she wanted me to experience many different smells.”

He thought of the many kinds of flowers surrounding the glass garden. When he realized that the layered floral scents had been an affectionate worry surrounding him, his chest ached.

“It’d be better to pile trash in the garden. Where the hell do flower smells even come from?”

He said that, but Kim Jinkyung knew that whenever he was in a bad mood, he lay alone in that glass garden surrounded by flowers.

“…Maybe she just wanted you to smell only good things.”

“…”

“You’ll end up smelling bad scents whether you want to or not. So maybe she hoped that at least here, you’d be surrounded by good ones.”

After saying that, Kim Jinkyung fell silent. Normally, Mok Seongha would have said something, but now he kept his lips closed and said nothing.

Did I say something wrong?

Kim Jinkyung clutched the sheet and waited for Mok Seongha to break the silence.

“You don’t smell bad.”

It was a completely unexpected answer.

“That’s a relief.”

Kim Jinkyung smiled.

He’d always showered often, but after hearing how sensitive Mok Seongha was to smells, he’d increased both the duration and frequency. Today too, all that effort paid off…

“……!”

Startled by a tickling sensation on his neck, Kim Jinkyung turned his head. Mok Seongha’s face was right there, bent down near his neck from the bed.

Kim Jinkyung froze. Mok Seongha breathed in, his nose close. Even knowing it was just him smelling, Kim Jinkyung couldn’t move a finger.

“Smell…”

“Ah. An apple smell?”

Kim Jinkyung covered the back of his neck with his hand. Thank god it’s dark. At least he wouldn’t be able to see the color.

“…My parents run an apple orchard.”

“I know.”

He knew from looking into it. There was no deeper meaning. The day he’d witnessed him transform into a panther, Mok Seongha had shown him photos of delivering flowers to his parents.

Even so, the fact that his heart still fluttered at those words made him hate himself.

Kim Jinkyung tightened his grip on the sheet.

“But aren’t you curious about anything else?”

“Huh? About what?”

“You don’t ask about me.”

It took a moment of blinking before Kim Jinkyung realized what he meant by “anything else.”

“Most people would ask. Why I change? Since when? How it started? Why my grandfather is human?”

Those questions had crossed his mind. He just hadn’t said them out loud.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“…I am.”

“Then why don’t you ask?”

After witnessing him turn into a black panther when he got wet, Kim Jinkyung had been threatened with silence for life that very day. Curiosity was light, and the weight of secrets was heavy. He was old enough to know that.

“Because it feels like something I shouldn’t hear.”

At that, Mok Seongha let out an incredulous laugh.

“Right. Don’t listen.”

He lay back down on the bed.

Is he sulking?

“Am I allowed to listen?”

“No. If you listen, you’ll get buried.”

Kim Jinkyung sucked in a breath. Mok Seongha laughed again.

“You’re really going to get your organs harvested someday.”

“…Go to sleep.”

Kim Jinkyung turned his body the other way.

“Why can’t I fall asleep?”

Mok Seongha muttered to himself and clasped his hands behind his head.

This is that thing. The thing where you go on a trip and stay up talking all night.

Kim Jinkyung realized that what he’d done today wasn’t a date, it was basically a school outing.

“Want to play word chain? In English?”

“…Please just sleep.”

Kim Jinkyung had to repeatedly tell the man to go to sleep while he babbled uselessly. In the end, it was well past 2 a.m. before they finally fell asleep.

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After the bombshell declaration to the Chairman, there were no messages for several days. Days like the calm before a storm passed, but Mok Seongha, the one who’d thrown the bomb, didn’t seem bothered.

“Hey.”

They were about halfway through a mock exam worksheet when Mok Seongha suddenly spoke.

“What is it?”

“Don’t you feel like something good’s going to happen today?”

After the CSAT, Kim Jinkyung once worked part time at a cafe with Seo Sangil for a short while. That was when he learned there were taboo phrases you should never say at work.

“It’s really slow today.”

If you said something like that, customers would flood in, so you had to watch your mouth.

Kim Jinkyung felt a strong sense of déjà vu at what Mok Seongha just said.

It feels like he shouldn’t say things like that.

“Somehow today…”

Before Mok Seongha could finish, someone knocked on the door.

“Young master. It’s a call from the Chairman.”

Mok Seongha stopped the stopwatch and stood up.

It was exactly one week since the only grandson had declared that he liked men. Yeah, it was about time the call came. What was he going to say?

The words wouldn’t go in. Kim Jinkyung closed the book he’d been reading. Not long after, the door flew open and Mok Seongha came in.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Where are we going?”

“Grab your books.”

Kim Jinkyung started stuffing not only his own book but also the tutoring materials into his bag.

English and math textbooks, vocabulary notes, and even the memorization subjects he used to clear his head.

As soon as he zipped the bag, Mok Seongha snatched it away.

“Pack clothes too.”

“What?”

“We’re not coming back today.”

“What do you mean?”

When Kim Jinkyung hesitated, Mok Seongha clicked his tongue.

“Forget it. We can just buy clothes.”

Mok Seongha grabbed Kim Jinkyung’s arm and started dragging him along.

“What? Buy what? Wait. You have to tell me where we’re going…”

While Kim Jinkyung struggled, not knowing what was going on, Secretary Kang stepped right up beside them.

“Young master. Where are you going?”

“You’re going to tail me anyway, so why ask.”

“I’d like to put it into the navigation in advance.”

Hearing that they’d be followed made Kim Jinkyung feel a little relieved. It didn’t sound like they were going somewhere deserted.

“Do you know where you’re being dragged to right now?”

Secretary Kang asked Kim Jinkyung with a murderous glare. Secretary Kang never once used the word date. He only asked where he was being dragged to, where he was being taken, where he was being led to.

“I-I don’t know.”

In the past week, they’d gone out three times. Once to an amusement park, once to the Han River, and once to Namsan. All three had been nighttime escapes disguised as dates.

They’d never gone out in broad daylight like this, with the sun shining, so Kim Jinkyung couldn’t guess the destination.

“We’re going to have sex.”

“What?”

Kim Jinkyung yelped and flinched. Secretary Kang stared at the two of them, or more precisely at Kim Jinkyung, with a look like he’d just heard something he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“No. I think there’s been a misunderstanding…”

“What misunderstanding? We’re dating. Put your shoes on.”

“I’m not putting them on.”

When Kim Jinkyung resisted desperately, Mok Seongha sighed. Then he scooped Kim Jinkyung up with one arm and slung him lightly over his shoulder.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Secretary Kang went to the entrance and placed Mok Seongha’s shoes there.

“Young master.”

“What?”

“Be careful. Take this lunch box with you, and contact me if anything happens.”

Since Mok Seongha didn’t eat food outside, Secretary Kang prepared a lunch box whenever outings might run long.

“Okay.”

Secretary Kang, who had raised him in place of his parents, treated the door sized adult man like a child. Mok Seongha accepted it without complaint.

“And teacher.”

“Yes?”

Clinging to Mok Seongha’s shoulder, Kim Jinkyung answered, terrified.

“You should be careful too.”

Same words, completely different feeling.

Watch your back at night. Watch it in the daytime too.

“And if anything at all happens to the young master, contact me immediately. Of course, it’d be best if no trouble happened in the first place.”

Kim Jinkyung swallowed dryly.

“Shoes.”

At Mok Seongha’s word, Secretary Kang sighed and handed him Kim Jinkyung’s shoes. Mok Seongha took them and walked straight out the door with Kim Jinkyung still slung over his shoulder.

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“A blind date?”

“Eyes front and drive.”

Kim Jinkyung straightened his posture as he held the steering wheel. Every time they went out, Mok Seongha threw him into the driver’s seat of the Porsche they always used, shoved shoes onto his feet, then sat in the passenger seat.

“Hey. Delete the app.”

“Huh?”

“The location tracking app.”

“Which one?”

Mok Seongha snatched Kim Jinkyung’s phone, deleted the app, and handed it back.

Aren’t we supposed to be tracked?

“They’re going to tail us, so we should at least make them nervous. Go.”

Only after the car started moving did Mok Seongha explain why he’d rushed out.

“They said I had an appointment and told me to head out later.”

“So they really don’t believe it.”

Kim Jinkyung muttered as he turned the wheel following the navigation.

He hadn’t expected them to believe it easily. Even though they’d declared they were dating, what Mok Seongha showed looked no more and no less than elementary school level romance. They’d banned skinship in the contract, but even Mok Seongha himself never tried anything beyond holding hands or putting an arm around shoulders.

…Well, he thinks the belly button is a hole you put it into, so of course.

“They told both of us to stop doing meaningless shit.”

“Ha.”

Kim Jinkyung laughed bitterly.

When they went out on “dates,” all they did was share earphones and listen to online lectures in quiet places, solve problem sets, memorize English words, things like that. Of course, because of the tail, they sat with shoulders touching or held hands sometimes. But that was it.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you think? Do something that’s not meaningless.”

Mok Seongha answered casually while looking out the window.

“You’re going to the blind date?”

Even if it was a match with no real chance, the thought of driving him to a blind date himself left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Are you insane?”

Mok Seongha frowned in disgust.

Even his frown was handsome.

Kim Jinkyung glanced at his profile and absentmindedly admired it.

“It feels like they won’t believe anything we do.”

“Exactly. That’s why we have to make them believe it from now on.”

Kim Jinkyung checked the destination on the navigation.

This feels bad. I thought it was just marked for the sake of the tail.

“…We’re not really going into a hotel, right?”

“I told you we’re going to a hotel to have sex.”

Startled, Kim Jinkyung stomped on the brake without thinking. The car came to a sudden stop. A horn blared behind them, followed by furious shouting.

“Fuck! You want to die?”

After narrowly avoiding a collision, the driver behind them pulled alongside, rolled down the window, and screamed.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Watching Kim Jinkyung apologize even though the other driver couldn’t hear, Mok Seongha snorted.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you going?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

Kim Jinkyung asked seriously as he lifted his foot off the brake.

“No.”

“This violates the contract. I absolutely will not do something like that…”

“We’re not.”

Mok Seongha replied firmly.

“Who said we were? We’re just going.”

“But earlier you clearly…”

“They won’t believe it unless two men go into a hotel room together.”

“…Will they believe it?”

“Even if they don’t, seeing his only grandson go into a hotel room alone with another man will make his stomach flip.”

“……”

Wasn’t this whole project about extending his grandfather’s life?

“It’s enough if they just start to suspect.”

Kim Jinkyung went, “Ah,” and nodded.

“For someone that promiscuous, you’re clueless more often than me.”

“…Haha.”

His grip tightened on the steering wheel. A mischievous smile flickered at the corner of Mok Seongha’s mouth.

“I booked a suite. Let’s just tutor the whole 1 night and 2 days.”

Booking a 6 star hotel just to tutor the man he had a crush on all night long.

There were so many things wrong with this situation that he didn’t even know where to start.

Yeah. It’s not like it can get any worse from here.

Kim Jinkyung sighed and turned the wheel in the direction the navigation indicated.